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“Still as cocky as ever too.”

She glared at him. “Hey now.”

He chuckled, then turned his attention to Sophie. “Hey, Soph.”

Her blue eyes sparkled in amusement. “Hey, Chris.”

“Don’t think we don’t know what you’re doing.”

She threw her hands up. “What? What do you think I’m doing?”

Alana frowned. “Bean.”

She grinned wide. “What?!”

They both sighed.

Chris placed his hand on her arm again. “We should probably talk, at some point.”

She swallowed the frog that climbed up her throat. “Yeah, at some point.”

He nodded as he backed away. “I have to check in on a brew. I’ll see you two later.”

Sophie perked up. “See you at the next market?!”

He smiled in her direction, then his eyes landed on Alana. “Yes, I’ll be there.”

She nodded, ignoring the way her stomach dropped as he stepped inside. She slumped down into her chair and glared at her sister. “That was uncool.”

“What do you mean?” Sophie asked sweetly. “We’re just having lunch⁠—”

“At Chris’s place of work.” Alana leaned in. “I wasn’t ready to handle that.”

“And when will you be ready?”

Alana frowned.

Sophie leaned over the table, getting close to Alana’s face. “I don’t think there’s such a thing as being ready. You just do it. I think it’s better to take the chance than to regret never taking it at all.”

“And by ‘take a chance,’ you mean talking to my ex about why I ghosted him after six years of dating?”

“Precisely.”

She surveyed her little sister. “And why do you care so much?”

Sophie hesitated, her cheeks pink. “Because he’s like family, Lana. I don’t want there to be bad blood between you guys. He was there through all of it with us. That has to mean something to you.”

She swallowed. It did mean something. But having Chris around also reminded her of the ways she had failed. As a friend, as a girlfriend, as a daughter. There was so much about that month many years ago that ripped her heart to shreds. Having him around meant she had to finally own up to her mistakes, and despite her sister’s best efforts, she wasn’t sure if she would ever be ready for that.

Especially without a damn cigarette.

10

Nine hours since Alana had a smoke, and she couldn’t be around anyone. Everything was making her irritable, and the small patch Sophie stuck on her back was decidedly not doing a good enough job. She gave up on trying to eat dinner at the table and carried her plate out to the field, where she lay down in the grass. She watched the wispy strand of clouds as they slowly moved east across the pink-blue sky and continually reminded herself that she was in a comfortable blue linen dress because of her sister and she did not need a cigarette.

She could sense his approach without looking. Leo took up the spot beside her, leaning back and tucking his hands behind his head. They didn’t speak for a long moment, and she was rather grateful for the silence.

She peered around. “Where’s Bear?”